"If youth only knew, if age only could!"

Do you truly know what you want? I mean if you had to give a 30 second elevator pitch on what you want with the rest of your time on this journey...COULD YOU HONESTLY COME UP WITH A STRONG, SOLID RESPONSE?

The ultimate problem in life (for some its really not a problem because they either DON'T care or they ALREADY have it figured out!) is that most people figure out what they really want and how they want to obtain it at a stage that is TOOOOO late. 

So like the title of this post says...."If youth only knew, if age only could!" 

Do you know what the reference point is? 

Here is a little friendly reminder...its the most precious commodity we have in this world and the only commodity that once its gone...well its gone forever! 

The answer is TIME!!!! 

TIME is something we know is extremely important but, honestly, DO YOU USE IT THE RIGHT WAY? 

The easy answer is NO! In today's world we are on our phones TOO much, we play around on the internet TOO much, we fall into a stage of anxiety which ultimately is worrying about something in the future that may not happen TOO much, we argue over stupid shit like politics, nutrition, exercise, paint colors and random opinions TOO much, we delay on making that stressful phone call that we know we need to make thus loosing sleep over a call that ultimately may go better than expected...TOOOOO MUCH! 

You, me, the NBA player last night, your kids incredible teacher and my buddy who is worth more money than I would know what to do with all have one thing in common...NONE OF US ARE PERFECT AT MAXMIZING OUR TIME AND USING IT TO THE MOST EFFIENCET LEVEL POSSIBLE! 

Guess what? It's completely ok as long as you know that is your TRUTH! 

My step-dad had some health issues last weekend that were extremely stressful and pushed the agenda of TIME IMPORTANCE into my mind, a patient of mine lost her, extremely healthy brother of 34 years old, to a massive heart attack and that pushed the agenda of TIME IMPORTANCE into my mind, my absolutely adorable, beautiful, badass daughter is graduating high school and that most definitely pushed the agenda of TIME IMPORTANCE into my mind! 

The problem is I will go through my day today, privileged to the opportunities in front of me and I will get lazy in my GRATITUDE department and I will forget at some level how lucky I am to have the TIME I have! 

Is this upsetting? Not at all because I am human and as humans we often forget how amazing we have it overall! 

This is why my 30 second elevator pitch becomes so important because this is when I can speak it into my own mind and remind myself WHAT REALLY MATTERS!

My elevator pitch...

"My practice in life has always been to push myself one percent better than I was yesterday. Spiritual, mental and physical growth allows me to take care of myself which in turn strengthens my bonds in life. Whether its racing an ultra-endurance event, watching my kids conquer their dreams, acknowledging how lucky I am to have met my wife, inspiring someone to find a passion or leading a movement to change the world, life is a canvas that allows me to paint my own future." 

If your path has taken an unfortunate turn lately...its ok! Take a minute, take a deep breath, saddle back up and LET'S GO!

Always Crush Life! 

Make It Count! 

How bad do you want it?

 

"If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse!"

I could probably list a few dozen lessons my step-dad has taught me over the past 30 years but one CONSTANT message that always flips into my mind is...NOTHING OUTWEIGHS HARD WORK! 

As a kid I can remember night after night watching him work at our kitchen table on law case after law case and the one thing I never remember hearing is...COMPLAINING! 

I never heard...

This is too hard! This doesn't matter! There is no point! No one cares! I should just quit! I am not good enough!

Not one time ever did I hear...any complaints, any negativity, any objections (ha ha...like that little lawyer jargon thrown in), any hints of frustration or any desire to throw in the towel! 

He just kept showing up...doing the work needed...to be as successful as all of it was important to him in order to live the life he desired and to help raise the family that meant everything to him and that wanting in bad enough still first him up NOW.

In my life I have always noticed a trend...I am 100% involved in EVERYTHING I do...UNTIL I lose that importance factor. 

I have humbly accomplished a lot in my life that I am extremely proud of and I have also let a lot of cool things slip out of my grasp mainly because I lost love for the endeavor. 

I am not proud of some of the things I have let slip in my life but that is life for me and everyone. 

What we want bad enough...we fight for and go all in towards accomplishing that GOAL. 

This week I hit a pinnacle of ultra swimming that I have had on my bucket list for many, many years!

Hitting the magical number of 10,000 in the pool was everything I thought it would be and more. 

I was hoping that my body would hold up strong and it did as I held the same pace for three hours straight. 

I was also hoping my mind would completely give out on me at some point and I would have to choose how bad I WANTED IT and...well...that moment came and went multiple times during the swim. 

You are probably confused seeing that I wanted my mind to fail...WHAT? To me when we hit that point...THAT...is the exact moment we start to grow!

Endurance sports truly is a 20% physical and 80% mental game! We train so hard to get our bodies ready for battle yet rarely train our minds for the tactical game that lies ahead of us. 

Isn't life the same way? Physically we are mostly in tune to what is needed to get through our days yet mentally we throw in the towel when someone cuts us off in traffic, we burn the mac and cheese, we hit the snooze button a half dozen times, someone critics us, someone doesn't agree with our views and when the weight on the scale is not coming off as fast as we want! 

We come up with a million different excuses as to why something is just not for US! 

Those excuses are just your bullshit reasons and I challenge you to hold off from throwing the towel in and just try one more time! 

Trust me...there are two things that will be worth it...

1.) Accomplishing a major hurdle, obstacle or goal is worth its weight in gold...I would rather struggle through a three hour swim and come out the other side a better man, dad and human than I would like to win a million dollars or have some fancy car that means NOTHING.  

2. ) Regret is a terrible disease and while you might not regret something now at 40 years old...I guarantee that if you don't go all in on accomplishing everything you desire then one day you will be on your death bed wishing you wouldn't have given in to that excuse! 

So all I have to say is...

HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

GO GET IT! 

Make It Count! 

You don't have to...YOU GET TO!

 

"You don't have to see the whole staircase...just take the first step!"

Yesterday I full on had one of those days! A pity-party in which I was the only one attending! 

I had many things on my daily TO DO LIST...with a very long swim being one of them! 

However...the gloomy, overcast, rainy, I am sore, motivation no where to be found, pathetic mind was forcing me to develop excuse after excuse as to WHY I didn't need to swim! 

Patients asked what I was doing after work and with a probably weak, defeated tone I said..."I have to swim!" 

It took a few times of rehearsing my excuse script in my head and losing more and more energy as I used the word HAVE until I reached a point of...

STOP! 

That stop point didn't come until my first stroke hit the water...

I was like a kid having a temper tantrum, fighting myself all the way to the pool as to why I SHOULDN'T be swimming. 

Luckily my wife is brilliant with her verbiage and gave me some delightful, four letter word, response when I said I was going home instead of swimming. 

Once that first stroke hit the water...I was literally transferred into a new mindset state and realized, yet once again, that I don't have to swim...I GET TO SWIM! 

Everything we do in our life falls into the same self-talk paradigm...

I don't have to be a good dad...I GET TO BE A GOOD DAD!

I don't have to be kind to people...I GET TO BE KIND TO PEOPLE!

I don't have to write this blog...I GET TO WRITE THIS BLOG!

I don't have to eat well...I GET TO EAT WELL!

I don't have to train for a 10 mile swim...I GET TO TRAIN FOR A 10 MILE SWIM!

I don't have to go to work today...I GET TO GO TO WORK TODAY! 

Everything we do is an opportunity to be better than we were yesterday! 

When we think in a GET TO mindset we are immediately gravitating towards a state of GRATITUDE and when we are in that state of GRATITUDE its almost like drinking rocket fuel towards success. 

I learned this morning that my Uncle's dementia has gotten pretty bad...it breaks my heart to hear how he struggles to remember family members and simple day to day chores. 

Knowing that neuro-degenerative disease runs in my family even helps me highlight the importance of celebrating what I GET TO DO! 

You may love complaining how life isn't fair because of the thousand of silly reasons we complain about but what really do you have to complain about? 

Life is definitely not fair at times but it is always up to us to stay on the horse and keep fighting forward. 

What do I GET TO DO TODAY?

I GET TO keep making it count!

I GET TO be married to the most amazing women ever!

I GET TO be a dad...greatest job ever!

I GET TO never grow up and keep using my imagination for good! 

I GET TO get uncomfortable via exercise and keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible for me! 

I GET TO simply stated...appreciate all life has given me...the good, the bad and the ugly as they all equally have brought me to this point in life! 

Thanks to everyone who has donated money to my swim (link is above)...I am about to level up training some so stay tuned to more updates! 

Always Crush Life! 

Make It Count!  

Empty the TANK!

"Take nothing but memories...leave nothing but footprints!" 

In 100 years...unless some remarkable advancements in human longevity....NOT one person reading this will be around to tell their story! 

Your fancy car, your expensive timepiece, your powerful job and most possessions and achievements will be done! 

EVERYTHING WILL BE GONE in the physical form! 

HOWEVER...what will remain is...YOUR ACTIONS....TODAY!

Those close to me know that each and everyday I LOVE to empty my tank! 

I have friends who train for endurance events and their version is ER or PR! Which basically means they will go as deep as possible to chase the dreams that push them each day to show up! They are willing to make the journey so incredibly painful that the only option is either the ER (emergency room) or a PR (personal record)! Some may frown upon this...I don't really give a shit if you are personally holding back on your potential...I admire anyone who wakes up each day willing to go all in...or...as I like to call it...EMPTY THE TANK! 

Why do I train every single day? Why do I push myself to the limits each chance I get? Why when I am extremely passionate about something does it consume me every single second? 

The very, simple answer is...TIME! Second answer is (my oldest and I watch World War Z) to run from the ZOMBIES!

I have ZERO guesses on when my time will come...the only thing I know is that it will come at some point and I never want to have regret that I left something in the tank! 

Some may assume that this picture is me exhausted and DONE! 

It's actually very much the opposite. This was the second time on a run in my life that I GAVE UP! The workout was too hard. I failed to engage my drive for mental toughness because I felt I had nothing left! I took the picture at the time...not because it deserved a...WHOA look how tough I am...I took it to remind myself that WE ONLY GET ONE CHANCE and STOP holding back!

The other time I sat on a curb was when I was 10 and my incredible step dad had us run the ELGIN FOX TROT 10 miler....

It felt like the end of the world that day and the difficulty level in my 10 year old mind was level ONE MILLION! 

I remember around mile 5...walking over to a curb...sitting down...and QUITTING! 

That's right...37 years later I remember that day like it was yesterday! 

I fully understand that I was only 10 and I should have been presented a free pass to be exempt from that struggle...HOWEVER...as you can see! 

I hold onto that regret to this day! It has fueled me to consistently and constantly EMPTY MY TANK for everything that matters the most to me! 

RACING IRONMAN TRIATHLONS! 

STARTING A COUPLE AMAZING MULTISPORT ENDURANCE GROUPS!

BEING ONE OF THE FIRST INTERNS FOR A WORLD LEADING SPORTS FIRM!

WORKING FOR THE #1 SPORTS MARKETING FIRM IN THE WORLD!

TREATING EVERY SINGLE PATIENT HOW THEY DESERVE TO BE TREATED!

ALWAYS STRIVING TO SHOW MY WIFE HOW INCREDIBLE SHE IS!

WRITING A BOOK GEARED AT CHANGING SOMEONES LIFE!

SPEAKING TO GROUPS WITH THE GOAL OF CHANGING GOAL STRUCTURES!

HAVING THE ULTIMATE PRIVILEDGE OF BEING A DAD (I am crying as I type)!

HAVING FAMILY AND FRIENDS WHO UNCONDITIONALLY SHOW UP!

TRAINGING FOR A MARATHON SWIM WITH BUTTERFLIES IN MY BELLY!

BUT...AS THIS BLOG GOES...

HAVING A STEP-FATHER WHO FOR 32 YEARS HAS LOVED ME LIKE ONE OF HIS OWN!

ER or PR...Empty the TANK...Live Life to the FULLEST...Leave nothing uncovered...

Whatever your reminder each day needs to be to allow you to show up...TATTOO that concept on your mind and LET's GO! 

Your actions today have more power and more meaning that anything you can purchase...

What we do right now...will have ripples and hopefully positive effects for long after your TIME comes! 

EMPTY THE TANK! 

ALWAYS CRUSH LIFE!

MAKE IT COUNT! 

Power of WORDS!

 

                                                "FEAR has two meanings:

                                                  Face Everything And Run

                                                                    OR

                                                  Face Everything And Rise

                                                  The Choice Is YOURS!"   - Zig Ziglar

Todays lesson should you choose to continue to read...has nothing to do with FEAR...I just love almost every Zig Ziglar quote and that one doesn't disappoint and hits the nail on the head of todays topic..

The power of WORDS...

In the quote above you can see that if you just switch around a few words...you go from running away from the fire to running into the fire! 

Let me drop a couple of words/sayings on you...

Pulchritudinous...

Put hair on your chest a foot long...

Eat a pound of dirt before you die...

Out of here in a cloud of whale dung...

Honorificabilitudinitarian...

We will get back to those five in a few minutes but in the mean time...I want you to ponder the words you have used either so far today or yesterday! 

My 14 year old daughter is about to blast off to Florida this weekend for Cheerleading Worlds! In the past three days they have had 12 hours of practice, about 30 full-outs (doing the whole routine all the way through...its is more difficult than it sounds) and balancing all that with school and everything life has to throw at them...

I have been to half of those hours and you know what I notice the most out of these kids? 

Its not the amazing talent, its not the work ethic and its not the athletic tape trying to hold off any last minute injuries...

Its the words they use to lift up instead of break down! 

The word IMPOSSIBLE becomes POSSIBLE!

The word CAN'T becomes CAN! 

The word WON'T becomes WILL!

The words TOO HARD become TOO EASY!

The words I QUIT becomes LETS F'ING GO!

The word TIRED becomes I GOT ONE MORE IN ME!

All this demonstrates is the simple power of words! 

Trust me...I have done some crazy difficult, challenging events in my life and many times was on the verge of quitting or telling myself I can't go any further...

BUT...

I always and I mean always tell myself to just try a little harder, give a little more effort, make a final decision in 10 minutes...and guess what happens? 

The difficulty, obstacle, adversity or challenge can't handle my simple yet power vocabulary that is being thrown around in my head (similar to my daughter being thrown around in the air) and I typically come out on TOP! 

Nothing is truly TOO hard! 

What is TOO hard is when we tell ourselves and those around us that it is!

Negativity is extremely contagious mainly because it allows all of us a chance to quit and hopefully save face because, well, everyone else thought it was impossible also! 

So today when you want to use WORDS that don't push the needle forward...

Why not stir up your inner competitive cheerleader and give yourself some words of encouragement that you are capable of way more than you believe yourself to be! 

Now back to the words/sayings above..

Seeing that this blog is about memories, ALZHEIMER's and other neurodegenerative disease awareness and well just another avenue for me to share random musings...

The following are words that my step-dad used often when we were kids! All meant for positivity but more meant as a way to simply keep moving forward and hopefully ALWAYS with a smile!

Pulchritudinous...

Put hair on your chest a foot long...

Eat a pound of dirt before you die...

Out of here in a cloud of whale dung...

Honorificabilitudinitarian...

Will I eat a pound of dirt before I die? Who knows...but what I do know is that I will get as dirty as I need to be both externally and internally to never give up putting my best foot forward! 

The Oergel family has three sayings that are foundational to who we are and what we do...

Make It Count!

Always Crush Life!

FSU! (F*&K SH*T UP!)

Go be great and CHEER as loud as you can! 

Play where it lies...

                             "They call it golf because all the other four-letter words were taken!" 

In general I am an overall fan of sports for the incredible athletic achievements but to be honest...I am more of a fan of the deep seeded mindsets needed in order to advance to the next consistent level of where you want to go! 

There are two sports that at the end of the day are incredibly mental mindset driven...

The first is any long distance endurance sport...

Take Ironman for example...every Ironman I did and for that reason every Ironman that anyone partakes in starts with all of us being ready on the start line. 

We put in the time, we put in the effort, we advance through injuries and we typically show up physically ready to conquer our task.

Its that mental monster that stands in our way from start to our goal! 

We can be in the best shape of our life and fall way short not because of a lack of endurance training but more from a lack of mental preparation. 

The second sport and probably the most mental of sports there is these days...is...GOLF! 

I am not a huge fan but I have a complete and relentless appreciation for the mental fortitude needed to move through a round of GOLF! 

We tee off with hopes of playing well but...winds, rain, bunkers, ponds, lakes, gators (that's a thing..right?), hot streaks from other players, a bad shot and deep grass all have a say in how the round goes...

AND...THEN...

The biggest hurdle to overcome is...

You guessed it...

Our mind! 

When I was a kid trying to learn golf I would go out and play with my step-dad at times...

Being a super competitive kid I would get so frustrated that every shot was not a shot of brilliance...but really, who did I think I was...practice makes perfect and perfect practice makes things even better! 

I remember one day hitting a shot into the tall grass and getting so hot headed and angry at myself.

Then my step-dad stepped in and said, "Oh, I see your stuck in the rough! Every player lands in the rough. It's how you get out of the rough that counts!" 

I am sure as a kid I whispered some four letter word under my breath absolute oblivious to the message being delivered to my immature mind! 

I did tune into the Master's last weekend for a hot second and what makes these players such incredible human athletes is how they can muster through adversity on a course and move on to the next shot in the blink of an eye without hesitation, visible doubt and limited frustration. 

One shot into the rough for them leads to the next shot being a picture of incredible domination. 

So why can't we do the same in life? 

Last time I looked, went through an obstacle or had a conversation with adversity I realized that with every challenge is a great opportunity in life. 

Life is not won by living a lifetime free of mistakes, free of obstacles and free of adversity. 

Life is won by those who respond to the mistakes, obstacles and adversity that is littered in ones path. 

Life will give you everything you need and more in order to have a life full of memories! 

Life doesn't happen to you...life happens FOR you!

Cancer will happen, ACL tears will happen, Alzheimer's diagnosis's will happen, being fired will happen, having an injury before a race...WILL happen, break ups will happen, missing the winning shot...most definitely will happen and a million other crazy scenarios will happen! 

Not to sound like an asshole or one that is not compassionate to some of the tougher obstacles but my meaning is genuine in that just because something happens doesn't mean we need to throw in the towel. 

Like my incredibly brilliant step dad said...its what you do next that matters!

When you land in the rough of life...TRY...and ask yourself the following questions...

What's something good that could come from this?

What's life trying to teach me?

What's the opportunity in front of me?

What can I do right now to help what's next? 

Remember...Life doesn't happen to you...life happens FOR you!

We need to go all in on protecting our mindset....just like a professional golfer! 

My answer for most of those questions is gratitude in the sense that there could always be worse obstacles, harder adversities and I could be ignorant to the beauty of what I still have!

Control the controllables and...

Master the NEXT SHOT! 

Always Crush Life! 

Make It Count! 

Nothing Works Unless You DO!

"Hard work betrays none!" 

This picture to you may just look like a broken down, falling apart, barely mobile, ALMOST 40 year old lawn mower! 

And...

For the most part...you would be partially correct! 

However as of yesterday...after one single pull on the fraying pull cord...SHE started right up and purrs like a baby kitten! 

Well...maybe doesn't purr but SHE definitely still does the trick! 

You see this lawn mover was my grandfathers and then my stepdads and then was basically left for dead until I grabbed it at the age of 25 and for almost 22 years has never let me down! 

I haven't put oil in the engine EVER and at this point I am terrified that if I change up anything...it might be time to put her out into the machine parts graveyard.

OK Jake...what does this have to do with anything! 

One thing my mom taught me at a young age and my step-dad reconfirmed right behind her was...nothing worth achieving ever comes without hard work! 

At some point in time the hard work ethos shifted to lets find the easy way out! 

How can we get faster running without working hard?

How can we get the promotion without working hard?

How can I raise three kids without working hard?

How can we write a best seller without working hard?

How can we lose all that weight without working hard?

How can we get a college scholarship without working hard?

How can we fall in love without working hard?

The list goes on but what never changes is...to accomplish any dream, to score any goal, to cross an ocean swimming...TAKES HARD WORK! 

In the last 5 years we have bought three fridges, two dishwashers, two weed eaters, three grills and probably a few other disappointing purchases. 

Where a few of those cheap purchases? SURE!

The main problem I see though is...things are just not made the way they use to be made! 

Same goes with work ethic...work hard...get results or learn! 

Take the easy way out...typically get let down and quit! 

Scroll through social media and you will see five dozen ways to lose weight, run faster, increase your testosterone or become an overnight success! Typically all lies and just an eye catch for you to buy something! 

When if you just shut your phone down and got dirty in the realm you are pursuing...

Success will eventually come knocking on your door and it won't be a flash in the pan! 

If you find yourself succeeding without much effort...

Either...

Your GOAL was too small...

Or...

Your results will be gone tomorrow...

Always Crush Life!

Go be great and MAKE IT COUNT!